Reunion
by Chocolate369
Summary: Adopted from Tanglemorph. What happens when the turtles meet up with their long lost sisters? Chaos as usual. SplinterxOC.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own tmnt

Tanglemorph and I decided I should create a link to her posted chapter, and I recommend you read that first. If you can't click on the link, copy and paste it into the URL box. Here it is: (take out the spaces)

www . fanfiction s / 3848265 / 1 / Reunion

Just a quick note before we begin. I know in the first chapter on Tanglemorph's profile, the girls have the same weapons as the boys. I'm making them have different weapons. And I'm making Lyn have a midnight blue bandana and Dani a royal purple. The girls also are going to have different personalities than the boys and different interests. Same thing for Thorn and Splinter. Oh, and no Omega markings. Just pretend Leo recognized Lyn by a crack in her plastron on the right side when he saw the picture. Just thought I'd let everyone know. Oh, and I'm starting right before the guys get abducted by the Makuzai no Bushi.

Enjoy!

Reunion

"Man, it feels good to be out and about again!" Don exclaimed as their game ended. As far as he could tell, the mutation cure he'd received several weeks before had eradicated any trace of the infection which had transfigured the brainy turtle into a vicious monster. Fear of relapse had led his brothers to insist on weeks of bed rest, but he'd nearly died of boredom, the only excitement being the discovery that their sisters still lived, in addition to learning about Splinter's mate Thorn. No words could possibly express the joy he'd experienced at the discovery. He'd missed his sisters at first when they mutated, before accidentally forgetting them. All his brothers had. But they could hardly imagine how Splinter felt upon realizing his mate still lived.

He'd believed Thorn dead, and they'd all wondered why Splinter had kept her a secret from them. The turtles could be excused because they'd been separated from their sisters when they were extremely young and had forgotten them. Splinter couldn't say the same, and he'd explained it to his sons as soon as the shock of finding the other half of their family subsided.

_"__Why didn't you tell us about Thorn, Sensei?" Donnie asked, his expression reminiscent of when he found a puzzle he couldn't solve. Why would Splinter hide the existence of someone who was so obviously important to him, judging by the tears he'd shed upon learning she was alive?_

_Master Splinter sighed. He'd known this question was coming. "I did not enjoy keeping her a secret. But you were too young to understand at the time. You remember, I did not tell you much of Master Yoshi until you were old enough to comprehend what he meant to me. And I did not tell you the whole story until you first met the Shredder, because I did not want hatred to permeate your training. How much more would you have despised Shredder had you known he killed the one who would have been your mother? And…" He paused._

_"__And…" Leo encouraged._

_Splinter's gaze drifted to the floor. "The thought of her always brought me pain. You were too young for me to burden at the time. And by the time you were old enough, I had come to terms with her death. I saw no point in burdening you where there was no need."_

_His sons understood. There was really no way they could've helped Splinter, understanding little about grief at the time. And perhaps they were already helping Splinter at the time, just by being the kids they were, making him laugh, loving him, and even driving him up the wall._

_"__Besides, had Thorn and I not been separated, she might not have found your sisters. And I would rather not consider what might have happened to them."_

_"__That's right!" exclaimed Mikey. "Everything worked out for the best. Now all we need to do is meet them." He turned to Leo. "How are we going to do that?" he asked eagerly._

_Leo rolled his eyes. "It's not that simple, Mikey. We don't even know where they live. Or if they know we're alive."_

_"__Dude, we've been all over New York, and Don here got on TV once. They have to know," said Mikey. "And don't say anything about them not remembering us," he added, seeing Leo opening his mouth. "We remembered them once we saw them. If they saw us, they'd remember us too."_

_Leo didn't argue. He was secretly hoping the same thing. It would be awful to meet his sisters only to find they didn't remember him. True, he didn't really know them that well after a fifteen-year separation, but it would be a nice start off if everybody remembered everybody._

_"__So how are we going to find them, bro?" Mikey asked again._

_"__Mikey, do you really think finding them is going to be easy? We've combed the sewers several times in the past and we never found a trace of them. How do you expect to find them?"_

_"__Dude, they're ninjas, remember? Just like us. Come on, we'll find them if we set our minds to it."_

_"__Michelangelo is right. Now that you know of them, I am sure we will all meet. I feel it in my heart."_

_Leo smiled. Mikey's faith strengthened Leo's hope, and Splinter's words drove away his doubts._

_"__However, I think it is best to help Donatello recover before we locate the rest of our family," the old rat added._

_"__Yeah, another mutation might crash the reunion," Raph agreed, leading Don back to the couch._

_Don protested rather violently, but in the end Raph and Leo, with Splinter's aid, convinced him and Mikey it would be better for everyone if he were recovered when meeting his sisters. He shouldn't have even attempted to journey topside, let alone followed Leo on patrol, but he'd started going stir crazy and snuck out after Leo left. Unfortunately for him, the leader had spotted him a mile into the patrol and dragged him home, though not before Donnie got the blood sample that turned out to be from their sisters._

_Two weeks passed before his family agreed to let him leave the lair with them._

"You okay, Egghead?" asked Raph, waving his hand in front of Donnie.

"What?" Donnie asked, realizing he must have blanked out. And his brothers were probably still wary of a relapse. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Skepticism darted across his brothers' faces. "Really, I am. I just got to thinking about our sisters."

Understanding and empathy replaced their doubt as Leo stepped forward, clasping his brother's shoulder. "I know. They've been on all our minds. I've laid awake nights imagining meeting them-"

A sudden _whoosh_ stopped their conversation cold as multiple shadows darted across the rooftops. All four turtles brothers tensed, eyes scanning their surroundings with surgical precision as they prepared for an imminent confrontation. With a _swish _and a _thud_, four strange figures landed before them, drawing tonfas. The brothers glared and drew their own weapons.

* * *

The brothers slowly opened their eyes. Multiple areas of their bodies bore the effects of their battle; bruises decorated their skin and their entire frames ached. Once their vision cleared, they found themselves lying in the center of a dark but rather spacey wooden cell with straw on the edges of the walls. Light filtered inside through a small barred window on the door, allowing them to determine the wood was colored mostly dark green and that the ceiling stood high, giving off a vibe of dangerous, but not threatening; not yet at least.

"Where are we?" asked Leo as Don noticed the chains on the side of the wall. The brainy turtle couldn't help but feel relieved that those shackles weren't restraining them to the wall.

"Wherever we are." Raph pounded on the door. "We're locked in." He snarled and drew his fist back, ready to slam his knuckles straight through the door when it creaked and slid open several inches.

"Or not," said Don.

"Okay, more freaky weirdness, anyone?" asked Mikey. His brothers detected a hint of fear, though Mikey tried his best to hide it.

Leo eyes darted around quick as they exited their cell and found themselves in a long hallway with multiple doors lining the wall. A cursory glance in each direction revealed no trace of those walking tree trunks.

"Uh, guys, our weapons don't usually float in the air by themselves, do they?" questioned Don. His brothers followed his gaze. Sure enough, on the wall opposite their door, encased in a bright light, their weapons floated.

"This keeps getting weirder and weirder," commented Leo. Coming from a turtle that had battled aliens and faced monsters straight out of horror movies, that was saying something.

"Weird or not, I'm getting my gear," Raph grumbled as picked up his sai and stuck them in his belt. He always felt naked without his mask, but without his weapons, the feeling tripled. His brothers followed suit.

"Um, if we have all our weapons," Leo said, "then whose weapons are those?" He pointed to another part of the wall. Four more sets of weapons hung in the same light.

"Maybe theirs," suggested Mikey, pointing to another opening door. The turtles tensed as a person stepped out.

The new arrival froze, as did the turtles. Neither side could believe their eyes. The newcomer whipped back towards her cell and yelled "Guys, get out here!" Her voice trembled with emotion, eyes glittering behind her yellow mask.

Three more figures emerged seconds later and froze as they laid their eyes on the turtles, their mouths dropping in stunned amazement.

"No way," Raph mouthed.

"It's, it's…" Mikey temporarily lost his ability to complete sentences.

"Our brothers," the girls breathed the same time as the guys mouthed, "Our sisters."

An immeasurable amount of time passed in hushed stillness. This was too easy, too convenient. None of them dared believe it was real. It was impossible, yet it was true. The crack in one of the girl's plastrons drew Leo's eye to her as the girls' eyes found a scar Raph had borne on his left arms since before his mutation. Memories long forgotten surfaced like a shark fin out of the ocean: their first meeting after hatching, days of crawling around in a glass tank, the day they were purchased, changing their lives irrevocably.

Finally, like the glass from a window whacked by a stray baseball, the silence shattered as they raced toward each other, grasping hands, arms, and shoulders, hugging, laughing, and even shedding a few tears. They could hardly believe they were together again; it felt like a dream they would wake up from any moment, except they didn't want to.

Eventually, everyone calmed down enough so the girls could collect their weapons off the walls. No one spoke for a time. Happiness and excitement had pushed back the worry and fear they all experienced when they woke up, and no one wanted to spoil the moment. For weeks, ever since they discovered their sisters were alive, the boys had dreamt of finally meeting their sisters and becoming a whole family again; the girls no less when they realized their brothers still lived. Despite the uncertain circumstances and possible danger, they couldn't help but be grateful they were brought together again, even if it was by freaky walking trees. There was so much to say, so much to do, so many possibilities and opportunities.

Leo finally broke the silence. "I can hardly believe it." His words understated his emotions.

"Neither can we," said the turtle with a midnight blue mask and two Chinese hook swords. "You didn't organize this, did you?" she asked, raising an eye ridge.

"Not our style," assured Don. "Well, not Leo's style anyway, and he's probably the one who would've organized something like this. So no, it wasn't us."

"Good, because then we'd have to have a little _discussion_ with you about organizing family reunions," the girl with the royal purple mask and chigikiri commented, smiling teasingly. The siblings chuckled.

Leo mock glared. "Very funny-" His eyes widened and he blushed.

"What?" asked the girl with the pink mask, nonplussed at Leo's embarrassment.

"I just realized. We're brothers and sisters, but we don't even know each others' names."

The girl with the Chinese hook swords smiled. "I'm Lynora. This is Rachel." She pointed to the turtle with the pink mask holding kamas. "Danielle." The girl wielding the chigiriki waved. "And Madeleine." The final sister wore a yellow mask and carried tonfa.

Leo returned her smile. "This is Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello." Each turtle nodded as he was named, Mikey waved enthusiastically. "And I'm Leonardo."

"So, how'd you guys get here? Mikey asked. "We got the snot knocked out of us by a bunch of wooden mannequins guys with tonfa!"

The girls nodded. "Same thing here," Dani replied. "Vicious fighters, but surprisingly nice enough to let you retrieve your weapons if you lose them?" The boys nodded.

Maddie glared downward.

"Uh, is she…" Raph asked.

"Maddie's fine," Dani assured him. "But since she uses tonfa, it kind of sucks for her to get knocked out by one."

"Ah,"

"Well, we're going to find out what's going on. You guys wanna come?" asked Leo.

"Definitely," replied Rae. "You're not leaving us behind."

The eight newly reunited turtle sibling started walking down the passageway. Upon trying one way and finding a dead end, they retraced their steps and followed the passageway in the other direction. All the other doors on the wall led to cells identical to the ones that formerly housed them.

Silence ensued for several minutes as they walked, everyone dying to ask each other a million questions and yet no one knew where to start.

"So," asked Don, in an attempt to break the silence and perhaps learn more about his sisters, "where do you guys live?"

"In the western part of the city, in an underground chamber," Dani replied. "What about you?"

"Pumping station under Central Park. Before that, it was the tunnels on the east side of the city. Your home must be really well protected; we combed the whole sewer system once while searching for Master Splinter and we never found a trace of your home."

"Master who?" asked Rae.

"Master Splinter, the one who taught us ninjitsu," Leo replied. "He said that your master Thorn was his mate."

"How'd you know about Lady Thorn?" asked Lyn.

"We found a picture of you guys while searching for giant turtle sightings. We had just realized you were alive," explained Don.

"Wait a minute! Splinter must be Lady Thorn's mate!" Maddie exclaimed, before blushing and clamping her beak shut.

Lyn hastened to elaborate. "Lady Thorn told us she had a mate as a normal rat, but she didn't give us any names."

Mikey glanced worriedly at Maddie, who stared resolutely at the ground. "Are you okay?"

The yellow-clad turtle's eyes shot toward Mikey, surprised. "Uh, of course!" She glanced downward.

"Relax," assured Rae. "Maddie's just _really_ shy around new people. Even her long lost brothers. Give her some time and keep talking and soon she'll be perfectly fine around you."

The male turtles nodded.

"Not sure it's a good idea to tell Mikey to keep talking," Raph commented.

"Hey!"

"Getting back to our earlier conversation," Lyn interjected. "Splinter is the name of Lady Thorn's mate and he's your sensei?"

"Yup," replied Raph.

"Wow." Lyn shook her head. "We're all ninjas and trained by two rat masters, who just so happen to be mates. Could life get any weirder?"

"You'd be surprised," Don replied.

Another thought occurred to Raph and he grimaced. "Hey, uh, did Thorn tell you guys about how she learned to be a ninja?"

"Yeah, why?" Dani asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Did she tell you how Master Yoshi died?" Raph hated bringing this up, but he wanted to make sure everyone was clear with each other on sensitive issues, lest someone accidentally blurt out something painful.

Lyn sighed. "Yeah, she did. Oroku Saki, also known as the Shredder. We saw on the news that he died, though."

"Not exactly," Leo replied.

"Huh?" Maddie asked.

"You didn't know?" Mikey asked. "Shredder's really this evil alien bug from this race called the Utroms. He gathered a bunch of Triceraton leftovers from the invasion and tried to leave to kill the Utroms and be all "evil alien terror of the universe," but we blew up his ship and the rest of the Utroms caught him and sent him to freeze his tentacles off on some kind of icy asteroid."

"Are you serious?" asked Dani, skepticism lining her face.

"Weird as it sounds, it's all true," Raph said. "Hanging around us, you get used to weird."

The girls' eyes widened.

"Just what have you guys gotten yourselves into these last fifteen years?" asked Rae, raising an eye ridge.

Don smiled and shook his head. "Long story, sis. A really long story."

"I'd like to hear it. The most we've ever done is take down punks trying to rob stores. Maybe all the action's on the east side of the city," Rae replied.

"No action? What about the Triceraton invasion? And the mutant outbreak? And all the earthquakes New York has? And the Shredder and the Foot and Karai?" asked Mikey.

"Okay, we fought Triceratons and mutants during those events. But we've never run into Shredder or the Foot," Dani answered. "Though we have seen Karai on TV," she added as an afterthought.

"Master Splinter says the four of us attract trouble worse than light does moths. More than likely you'll see more action than you can stand now that we're back together," said Leo.

"Maybe. But first things first, you need to tell us everything. I want to hear how you fought the Shredder," Dani replied.

"Which time?"

"You've fought him more than once?" Rae asked.

"We've lost count." Raph shook his head.

"Okay, how about this," Lyn suggested. "We tell you about our lives, you tell us about yours."

"Yeah, that'll work. It shouldn't take us long to tell you about our adventures." Dani grinned.

Leo grimaced. "Meanwhile, it'll probably take us weeks to catch you guys up on everything we've done."

"You couldn't have gotten into too much trouble." Dani raised an eye ridge.

"I beg to differ Dani," Mikey replied. "We've traveled into space, different planets, different dimensions, and fought all kinds of crazies, gangs, ninjas, government agents, and otherworldly creatures! And that's just the tip of the iceberg!"

The female turtles stared. Rae slowly rotated to face Lyn. "How come they have all the fun?" she complained.

Lyn shrugged. Rae turned back to her brothers. "You are so telling us everything!"

"We will. But later," Don replied. A door loomed before the turtles, small, but no less intimidating. Leo pushed the doors open and led the group inside.

* * *

So, what do you guys think? I know I skipped the battle, and that might disappoint some people. In an early draft I did have the battle, but it just felt like I was retelling the episode and it just seemed kind of dull. I'm going to focus more on the in between scenes and the aftermath, at least till the Mystics attack the monastery, otherwise I feel that it'll just get boring, and I want to try to establish character bonding first. Please review!

Oh, and if you're not sure what the girls' weapons look like, just Google Image them and you'll see. For Rae's kama, make sure to type kama weapons! And her weapon doesn't have a chain. Just in case anyone wants to know.


	2. Chapter 2

Here's chapter two. I hope everyone enjoys it. I don't own tmnt.

If anyone's having problems with the link, I'm sorry. I think I fixed it.

Chapter 2

"I am not liking this, not liking this one bit," Raph grumbled as the eight turtles ascended the weird glowing stairs, leading to open air.

"I'm with you, Raph," replied Lyn, glaring down at the tribunal.

"Whoa," Dani gasped. "What is this place?" she asked as they glanced around. Buildings that looked to be of Japanese design with a prominent dragon theme, mostly colored green and yellow, surrounded them with nothing but an open sky beyond. No landscape.

"Let's find out," suggested Leo as he headed to the edge of whatever they were on, followed by the others.

At the edge, everybody gasped. "We're, we're…" Leo stuttered.

"In the middle of the ocean," Rae finished, taking note of the dolphins swimming beside the ship. Glancing upward, the turtles spotted the orange sails and black flags at the tops of the masts, with a symbol they were unable to make out.

"We've been shanghaied!" Mikey exclaimed. Nobody knew what to say.

Raph growled. "Aw, this is messed up. I say we find a way off this tub and forget we were ever here!"

Lyn shot him a skeptical look. "You honestly think we could?"

"What do you think Leo?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know what to think. They said there's a great evil coming." Leo hesitated as Lyn turned her dubious look on him. "Maybe we should-"

"Hey guys? Land ho!" Don exclaimed.

"Where is this?" asked Dani.

"Sure as shell ain't New York City," replied Raph.

Leo narrowed his eyes. "I think it's Japan," he realized, remembering the distant mountains and the atmosphere from his first visit.

Everybody froze.

* * *

With little options presenting themselves, the turtles had no choice but to wait and hope for the best as the ship drew closer to land. Leo, Raph, and Lyn watched the tribunal while the others wandered the ship, not daring enter any of the buildings.

"This cruise into mystery is getting real old real fast. This stinks, Leo. Big time," Raph muttered.

Leo hated being in the dark as much as Raph, but chose not to comment as he turned his attention to his sister. "Any movement from the tribunal, Lyn?"

"Not a peep nor a twitch, Leo. I can't even tell if they're blinking."

"Then I say we go down there and make a move!" Raph growled, all too ready for a rematch.

"There's still too much we don't know about the tribunal. About this threat they mentioned," Leo cautioned.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Raph protested. "They kidnapped us! They sicced their wooden soldiers on us and tried to make us take each other out! They're the threat." He jabbed his finger at Leo's chest. "And you still wanna wait and see?"

Lyn stepped between them. "Raph, I'm completely on your side with the tribunal. But just going down there and attacking them is going to get us killed or worse! Let's find out what's going on and _then_ crack their skulls if we need to."

Raph growled silently. When the tribunal had ordered him and his brothers to fight their own sisters, he'd wanted smash those goons' heads in with their own helmets. And reduce their wooden mannequins to firewood and toothpicks. He grimaced. Losing like that rankled in the extreme. Although he had to admit, Lyn had pulled some pretty cool tricks. She'd hooked one of those wooden clowns with her swords and flung it right over her head, sending it careening into another, then hooked another one and spun around with it, taking down at least six more before another one snagged her with a sweep.

Every one of them had put up what he believed was a good struggle, none falling to their enemy easily. Don and Dani had worked surprisingly well together, covering each other's backs and fighting off every blockhead within five feet of them until one managed to jump right on top of them, literally. Raph knew some of them had needed to fight with half a tonfa due to Leo's swords before one of them struck him from behind. He and Rae had driven back at least ten of them before several others to land a couple front kicks causing the two turtles to crash into each other. Then another one whacked Mikey when he tried to check on them.

Out of all of them, though, Maddie had fared the best. She might be called the shy one, but in battle she transformed to an entirely different person, a personification of the saying "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." _More like bite like a dragon_, Raph thought. Maybe it was because she was accustomed to fighting with tonfa, or the fact that her siblings were all down, or she wanted revenge for the last time. For whatever the reason, after the other turtles were defeated, she held her own against those logs with legs in a stunning display of a gymnastic movement, cheetah speed, and wolfish ferocity. The turtles weren't easily awed by a fighter, being warriors themselves, but Maddie left them bug-eyed with dropped jaws as tonfa flew every direction, wooden clowns wound up on the floor, and tonfa blades literally bent, before one of the bozos picked up Mikey and threw him right into Maddie, stopping her in her tracks. And unfortunately, none of those goons stayed down. They'd been trapped and cornered.

"Hey guys, we're here!" called Dani, breaking Raph out of his thoughts.

_Here we go,_ he thought. Mikey's words echoed in his skull _"What the shell have we gotten ourselves into?"_

_I wish I knew Mikey._ Raph thought.

* * *

"What did they pack these things with?" Raph grunted as they walked up the path. "Bricks?"

"No bro, that's just your head!" Mikey joked.

"Keep yapping Mikey! Soon as we reach the top-" Raph threatened.

"Are they always like this?" asked Dani.

"No. Usually they're a lot more annoying," replied Leo, smiling slightly. "You get used to it. Just make sure nothing you value falls within fifteen feet of them if you don't want it broken."

"We don't break anything!" Mikey protested.

Don heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Mikey, do you want a list number of things I've had to fix because of you and Raph?"

Mikey stopped short, chuckling nervously. "I don't think it's necessary, do you Donnie?"

The purple-clad turtle shook his head. "I rest my case."

"You know Egghead, I seem to recall you breaking and blowing up a lot of stuff," Raph retorted.

Don blushed. "Yeah, when I was a _kid_!" he protested.

"Okay guys, let's change the subject," Leo interjected.

Silence reigned as the turtles climbed higher and their thoughts returned to the ninja tribunal, the tension thickening. No one really wanted to discuss the mysterious warriors; too much was unknown, and they didn't want to start a serious argument as they needed to stick together if they were going to survive whatever was going on. A few minutes floated by before someone found another topic.

"So," Maddie asked timidly, hoping to break the uneasy silence, but also genuinely curious, "what's Splinter like?"

The male turtles smiled. "Strict, but great," Leo replied. "What about Thorn?"

"You first." Dani grinned.

"Where to begin?" Leo eyes glazed over as he remembered the past.

"Well, like Leo said, he's strict," Don began after a short pause. "One minute late for practice and there's shell to pay. He's real serious about honor too, and did his best to pound it into us. Disobedience resulted in either flips or an extra practice where we would beg to sleep afterwards."

"Really? Lady Thorn never said or did anything if we were late for or missed practice." Dani remarked.

"Wait, you mean you could just skip whenever you wanted to. So not fair!" Mikey whined.

"Oh, not really. She had her own way of making sure we turned up for practice." Lyn smirked. "Right Rae?"

Rae shook her head. "You just can't let me live it down, can you?"

"What does that mean?" Mikey asked Maddie.

Maddie glanced at Mikey, then on the trail ahead. "Well, you see, Lady Thorn teaches us techniques and katas, then she'll have us use them in a sparring match against her." Her voice was soft. "You know, to make sure we can use them in an actual combat situation. Anyway, Rae skipped practice for an entire week once. When it came time for sparring, she didn't have a clue what she was doing." Maddie giggled as Rae glared. "Kind of sad to watch. None of us ever skipped practice again unless we were sick."

A sly look crossed Leo's eyes. "Maybe we should suggest that to Master Splinter to make sure Mikey turns up," he suggested.

"Dude, no way!" Mikey backed quickly away from his older brother. The others chuckled.

"What does Splinter do for fun?" asked Lyn.

"Boring stuff," replied Mikey.

"It's not boring!" Leo protested. His brothers glared at him. "Okay, maybe his soaps are. But the other stuff isn't."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "Sure, meditation, drinking tea, soaps, occasionally some gardening. Not boring at all. I'll admit ninja training isn't boring, but everything else is."

"He gardens? In the New York sewers? Really?" Rae inquired. "Maddie's heavy into gardening too." The yellow-clad turtle's eyes were focused on her brother.

"Nah, he's just got some bonsai trees," Don corrected. "Although he's thinking about starting a garden at Casey's grandma's farmhouse."

"Whose grandma's farmhouse?" questioned Lyn.

"Casey," Raph replied. "A human friend of ours. We'll tell you about him later. Is Thorn boring like Splinter?"

"Raph," Leo warned.

"Come on Leo, Master Splinter knows I think his hobbies are boring."

"Anyway," interjected Dani, breaking up the argument, "you want to know about Lady Thorn?" The male turtles nodded.

"She's pretty weird and pretty cool. Loves sci-fi and superhero movies, and comics."

"Sounds like she and Mikey would get along great," commented Leo. Mikey grinned from ear to ear.

"She also loves listening to classical music. Could probably teach a music appreciation course in college."

"Okay, not perfect then," said Mikey, frowning.

The sister glared. Leo smacked Mikey upside the head. "Ow!"

Raph chuckled. "For future reference, that works pretty well when Mikey says something stupid."

"We'll keep it in mind," Lyn grinned slyly.

"Thanks a lot guys," Mikey muttered. The other turtles snickered.

"Anything else?" asked Leo.

Lyn adjusted her backpack. "Well, she taught us capoeira along with ninjitsu."

"Capo-what?" Mikey scratched his head.

"Capoeira. It's a Brazilian martial art that combines music, acrobatics, and dance," Dani explained.

Leo frowned. "Master Splinter never taught us that. And he didn't mention Master Yoshi knowing it either."

"Lady Thorn didn't learn it from Master Yoshi, Leo. She was owned by a woman before Yoshi and learned it from her." Her eyes narrowed. "Didn't you know?"

"Master Splinter never told us about Thorn before we found out you and her were alive. It was too painful for him," Raph replied. "And he didn't get a chance to tell us much about her before we were kidnapped because we were busy making sure Donnie didn't have a mutation relapse."

"Wait, _ what_?"

Mikey explained, "Long story short, one of our enemies caused that mutant outbreak by faking an alien invasion, we fought the mutants and one of them infected Donnie here, so he eventually transformed into a snarling monster who tried to eat my leg, then we had to steal a weird piece of jewelry from the Foot to get our enemy Bishop to cure him—" Mikey inhaled air, "and we've spent the last few weeks making sure he's better."

The girls stared, Raph and Leo frowned to themselves, and Donnie chose to memorize his feet. An awkward silence ensued.

Before the discomfort could degenerate to tension, the ground began to rumble. "Is this an earthquake?" asked Mikey. "Because earthquakes are never a good thing!"

"It's no earthquake!" Leo pointed to the top of the mountains. "Look!" Rocks and boulders tumbled down the side of the mountain, picking up speed as they raced toward the turtles.

"Oh, crud!" Raph swore.

"Run for it!" yelled Lyn.

The turtles sprinted up the path; their backpacks light as balloons. Mikey and Leo led the pack, Leo searching desperately for a spot where they could take shelter.

"Up there!" he yelled. A tunnel loomed before them, promising safety. Leo started lagging behind, making sure the others got to safety. Mikey reached the cave first, followed closely by Dani and Rae. Next, Don and Lyn dove inside with Raph hot on their tails.

"Maddie!" yelled Lyn. Leo glanced back and nearly choked. Maddie had tripped on a jutting rock and fallen behind earlier. She'd risen, but the boulders had reached the path and it was impossible to tell if she could make to the cave in time.

Leo and Lyn hurried Maddie's side, taking her hands as they raced back through the deadly maze of flying rocks. They leaped across the smaller pieces, ducked the flyers, and dodged the huge hunks. Don called out warnings when the bigger chunks reached the path and for the most part succeeded in guiding them to the cave. But he failed to realize the boulders were starting to crack the stone that made up the path.

Just as they neared the entrance, the ground gave way, sending them plummeting and screaming. Nothing but hard ground waited for them at the bottom. And they highly doubted the water would afford them a softer landing.

"Hang on!" Raph yelled as hands grasped the wrists of the falling turtles. Rae gripped Leo, Dani clutched Lyn's hands, and Mikey gripped Raph's knees in a death hold as the hothead hung over the edge. Raph in turn held onto Maddie. Rae, Dani, and Mikey pulled, pausing when a series of booms broke the silence. They glanced upward.

One final boulder hurtled downward straight for them. And there was no way to avoid it. They could only watch as it hit a jut in the cliff and flew into the air, about to fall right on top of them.

"HIYA!" Don yelled as he pole vaulted into the air and slammed his feet into the boulder with all his strength. The rock sustained little damage and Don was knocked backward, but it was sufficient. He'd altered the trajectory enough so that the rock missed his siblings and plunged down the mountain and into the water without harming anyone.

Mikey, Rae, and Dani wasted no time in pulling the others to safety and everyone rushed into the cave lest another rockslide try to take their heads off. Partway into the cave they collapsed, breathing heavy, their backpacks suddenly weighing one hundred pounds.

"Could have warned us about the possibility of rockslides, couldn't they?" Raph glared, wanting a little word with the ninja tribunal. A word involving his sai.

Nobody answered, though several couldn't have agreed more.

"Thanks guys," said Maddie, her eyes conveyed her gratitude.

"Hey, no big deal," Mikey replied, a smile crossing his face.

"Yeah. You're our sister. It's our job. Even if we haven't known each other that long," added Don.

Leo and Raph nodded, smiling. Lyn, Rae, and Dani simply grinned.

Maddie beamed, her uneasiness around her brothers evaporating. Her sisters noticed.

"Well, saving each other from a rockslide is one way to kill the tension between people," Dani commented.

Everyone's smiles widened.

"Come on. Let's get going," Leo suggested, leading the rest of the siblings up the path. No one spoke for a while, enjoying the silence. Words weren't necessary. A camaraderie had formed between them, forged in the flames of working together and tempered by their admittedly hastily placed trust in each other, and finally cooled and finished by the success of saving a life they all care about. A bond stronger than flesh and blood bound the siblings together now, one that would last forever.

As time passed and they continued to hike, their packs grew heavier, but no one dared stop, fearing another rockslide. None of them wanted to spend the night outside. And maybe they just wanted to prove the tribunal wrong about them.

Their thoughts drifted to their respective senseis. Splinter had to be worried sick about his sons, as did Thorn regarding her daughters. What would they do when they found their respective children had not returned? Both would comb the city and ask human friends. Neither would give up. But how could they possibly think to look for their children in Japan in mountains that were most definitely not in any tour books? Maybe they could find a way to contact their senseis once they reached the top. The thought drove them and they pushed themselves up the path, despite the heavy packs weighing them down. Besides, the sooner they found out what was going on, the sooner they could return to their senseis and reunite them. Hopefully.

As the sun began to set, the eight turtles finally spotted the top of the mountain. The path led to a monastery, the entrance shaped like the head of dragon; those who dared enter walking right into the dragon's mouth, to be devoured unless they treaded carefully. Uneasy feeling filled each turtle as the door adorned with the inverted signal of the Foot opened and closed once they were inside. No turning back. No one but each other now.

* * *

And so is the end of chapter two. I added the rockslide because I felt I needed to add _some_ action and the rockslide was a substitute for the battle, since I decided to skip the one against the Makuzai no Bushi. And I really wanted to get Maddie comfortable with her brothers. She's still timid, but at least she's relaxed with them.


End file.
